Why ‘Baazingg Khwatai’ Stayed With Me And Deserved More Love From Audiences

I am not a film critic or reviewer because I do not know much about the technicalities of filmmaking. I watch films purely as a viewer, and once the show is over, I rarely discuss them.

Of course, the good and the bad stay in memory, and if someone brings up a conversation about a film, I share my views without turning it into an argument.

Earlier this month, I watched Baazingg Khwatai, a Hindi-language film set against a northeast backdrop.

The film left a lasting impression on me and stayed with me long after I walked out of the theatre.

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Blending a fictional supernatural story with a rustic northeast flavour in such a believable way that people in the theatre felt compelled to take out their phones and search whether such incidents had ever happened in the region is, in itself, a major achievement for the filmmaker.

What I liked most about Baazingg Khwatai was the filmmaker’s approach and the way the actors performed their parts.

The acting, on most occasions, felt extremely natural — unlike in many Assamese films, where performances often look staged, as if neither the makers nor the actors are trying hard enough to bring realism to the scene.

This also made me wonder why the same actors who performed so convincingly here often appear far less convincing in Assamese films. Are they not allowed to be themselves, or do they simply not give their hundred per cent? Whatever the reason may be, Baazingg Khwatai brought out almost the best in them.

In many Assamese films, acting often feels like parroting rather than performing. Here, however, it felt more like genuine performance and less like actors merely reciting lines.

That said, the makers could have worked more on certain aspects, especially the Hindi diction of some characters. The switching between Assamese and Hindi within the same conversation between local characters also felt jarring at times. A little more mystery in the storytelling would have further elevated the experience.

In fact, had the film been shot entirely in Assamese, with Hindi reserved only for Hindi-speaking characters, I believe the emotional connection with the audience would have been even stronger.

As a layman, I would say Baazingg Khwatai is a brave and bold attempt that deserved far better acceptance from audiences.

Blending culture with the supernatural and creating fiction that feels real is rare, especially in the kind of cinema typically made in Assam. Films like this are uncommon not just in Assam but in the northeast as a whole, and they deserve appreciation.

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